The intense commercialization of metallocene polyolefin catalysts has led to widespread interest in the design of non-metallocene, homogeneous catalysts. This field is more than an academic curiosity as new, non-metallocene catalysts may provide an easier pathway to currently available products and may also provide product and process opportunities which are beyond the capability of metallocene catalysts. In addition, certain non-cyclopentadienyl ligands may be more economical due to the relative ease of synthesis of a variety of substituted analogs.
Thus there is a need in the art for new novel olefin polymerization catalysts. WO 96/23101, WO 97/02298, WO 96/33202 and Furhmann et al, Inorg Chem. 35:6742-6745 (1996) all disclose nitrogen containing single site like catalyst systems.